


It's the Thought that Counts

by Chichirinoda



Category: Bleach
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-20
Updated: 2008-07-20
Packaged: 2017-10-14 08:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/147370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chichirinoda/pseuds/Chichirinoda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Renji has a small obsession, and it has to do with his Captain. Slashiness of this is up to your interpretation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's the Thought that Counts

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/gardensgnome/profile)[**gardensgnome**](http://www.insanejournal.com/users/gardensgnome/)

It all started when Renji saw that delicate set of china cups, tiny kanji marching around the black rim in gold leaf and spelling out words like "honour" and "conviction" and "fortitude", in the window of a shop in Karakura.

The thought that there had never been a more perfect tea set for Byakuya carried him into the shop and all the way through the purchasing process before the rest of his brain caught up and started to wonder what the heck he was going to do with the damn thing now that he owned it.

The tea set ended up getting stowed in the back of his closet in the Soul Society, and that was - Renji thought - the end of that, except for a vague feeling of guilt that the present had never actually been _delivered_.

But every time Renji tried to figure out how he'd gift his Captain with the tea set, even in his _imagination_ he mostly just turned into a tongue tied idiot, was fixed with that disapproving glare that Byakuya had all but patented, and probably broke the damn things while handing them over.

The reality would certainly be even worse, and might involve being gutted.

A part of him wondered if perhaps the tea set was just too perfect, so perhaps a different kind of souvenir would be easier to give. So then there was the whalebone hair clip, and the Shogi set, and the sleeping robe with a shower of cherry blossoms embroidered on it in tiny hand stitching. Eventually Renji found his closet barely had any room left for his own stuff.

Even worse, he was pretty sure he'd failed to keep these little buying sprees completely secret, because Rukia was starting to give him funny looks whenever they patrolled Karakura and some trinket or fabric pattern caught his eye through a store window.

And he couldn't blame Rukia for it; if he didn't know any better, _he'd_ think he was turning gay!

Not that there was anything wrong with it, and it wasn't like Renji didn't enjoy a friendly fumble and tussle with another guy once in a while - at the very least they weren't likely to cry and declare their love afterwards - but gay like Ikkaku and gay like Yumichika were two entirely different things.

And yet, he didn't seem to be able to stop. Every time he came to the living world he found his thoughts constantly roving back to his captain, found his eye always on the move, looking for something that might bring a rare smile to Byakuya's face, and before he knew it he had some kind of new precious trinket to shove into his closet back in the Soul Society and try to forget about.

It was like some kind of obsession or something!

He was gazing covetously at a glass Go board one day, trying to decide whether Byakuya would be struck by its crystalline beauty or scandalized because it wasn't the traditional wood, when Rukia's voice suddenly intruded into his thoughts.

"Are you going to buy that or moon over it all day?"

He jumped like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and whirled, seeing Rukia standing just behind him, diminutive hands on hips and a cheeky smile on her face.

"W-what do you mean?" Renji sputtered, certain his face was turning as red as his hair. "Why would I buy something like that?"

"That's what I want to know," Rukia retorted. "Tea cups and silks aren't exactly your style," she added, confirming his deepest fears - that she'd been watching him all along.

Renji shuffled his feet, trying desperately to figure out how to explain this without looking like a complete lameass.

"Renji, really," Rukia said. "Who are you giving all this stuff to? You can tell me."

"Uh, well I haven't exactly given them to the person yet," Renji admitted, wincing at the tone of his own voice.

To his chagrin, she placed a hand on his arm and gave him a sympathetic look.

"Who is it you like, Renji? Maybe...maybe I can help."

Renji choked. "No! No! It's not like that. They...they're for Captain Kuchiki." The admission made his cheeks flare with heat again. "I...I thought I'd get him a souvenir, but then I wasn't sure how to give it to him so I tried something else, and it all just kinda snowballed."

As he babbled his explanation, he could see Rukia's world realigning itself.

"Wait a minute, all this time, you were just trying to buy a souvenir for my brother?" Rukia exclaimed, and then a bray of laughter escaped her lips. Renji glowered at her until she stopped laughing.

"Yeah, so what?" he demanded. "I don't see what's so damn funny about it!"

And he stalked off angrily before she could say another word. Honestly, what was there to say? He was an idiot for even having come up with the idea, and no wonder she'd laughed.

Nothing more was said about it, thank goodness, and Renji somehow managed to avoid the shopping district for the rest of the week before he headed back to the Soul Society to give his regular report.

That night he opened up his closet and forced himself to make something of an inventory of the things he'd brought back.

Head and shoulders into the closet and surrounded by boxes, he shifted them around and muttered to himself. "Damnit, I bought two of these? And why did I buy _three_ tea sets. What am I, an idiot? This thing...what the hell is this, anyway? _I_ don't even know, the Captain is definitely not going to."

He was just examining a small gift-wrapped box and trying to decide what might be inside it when a voice intruded on his thoughts. "Uh, Vice-Captain, sir?"

Renji jumped at the unexpected voice and banged his head on the underside of a shelf. "Ow! What the hell do you want?" he snapped, backing out of the closet and rounding on the unseated soldier standing just outside his door.

Realizing that he was still holding the box in his hand, he quickly tucked it into his sleeve.

The soldier blinked in confusion, but managed to gather his thoughts again. "C-Captain Kuchiki wants to see you, sir. He says it's urgent."

"Great," Renji muttered under his breath. "Thanks. You're dismissed." He'd already given his report to the Captain - written it out and everything. Not that there was much in it. If he was being summoned now, there had to be something wrong.

He paused just long enough to straighten his uniform and make sure there wasn't any dust on it from rooting around in his neglected closet, then quickly trotted to the Captain's office and cleared his throat outside. "You summoned me, sir?"

"Come," came Byakuya's voice.

Renji hesitated. He sounded...pissed. More pissed than usual, that is. But it wasn't like he had a choice.

He slid the door open and stepped into the office. Byakuya sat behind his desk, a quill in his hand and a stack of papers in his 'out' box. He was making notations on a piece of paper in his precise handwriting, but Renji couldn't quite make out what he was doing from this vantage point.

Byakuya didn't look up for a moment. He completed the notations, then set the sheet of paper on the top of the stack.

Then he looked up, and Renji nearly took a step back. He _was_ pissed.

"Renji," Byakuya said. "I have received intelligence stating that something is missing from your reports on your activities in the living world."

Renji stared for a moment, his mind racing. "W-what?" he exclaimed. "I...I mean, no sir. I can't think of anything missing."

Byakuya fixed him with a stare that made Renji want to melt into the floor and certainly didn't help with his memory problem.

"Is that so? My sister seems to believe that you have been engaging in some kind of _secret_ activity that you have been deliberately hiding from me," Byakuya said ominously. "However, she was unable to tell me what exactly this activity was."

Renji's jaw dropped as it hit him like a bolt of lightning. _That bitch!_ "Uh...uh, sir, it's not what it sounds like," he stammered.

Byakuya rose to his feet. Renji hated the fact that he had to look _up_ at his Captain. It wasn't like Renji was short, but he always felt like it when Byakuya glared down at him like he was doing right now.

"Then enlighten me, Renji," Byakuya said implacably.

Renjji was sweating. How could Rukia do this to him? It was even worse than anything he'd imagined!

"Uh, well, Captain..." He reached up to scratch his head, and felt something shift inside his sleeve - the box!

Desperate, he grabbed the box before he could chicken out again and held it out in both hands, dropping his head and shoulders in a bow. "It's this, sir! This is for you."

There was a moment of silence, and Renji risked a look upwards, to see Byakuya looking somewhat stunned. At least he didn't look angry anymore.

Slowly, Byakuya reached out and took the small box, turning it over in his hands curiously. "What is this?"

Renji shuffled his feet, straightening up out of the bow. "Just open it," he mumbled.

Byakuya turned the box over one more time and then pulled gently on the wrapping, undoing it with meticulous care. Renji shifted from foot to foot impatiently. If it were him, he'd have torn into it, but he knew Byakuya was different.

Finally, after an agonizing wait, Byakuya opened the box to reveal the whalebone hair clip Renji had bought him a while ago. He blinked at it, and picked it up with a delicate touch.

"Renji..."

"Yeah, I know, it's weird for me to buy you something," Renji exploded. "But I saw it in the living world and I thought you might like a souvenir and it just seemed like something you'd like, okay?"

Byakuya's sharp tone overrode Renji's tirade with the force of a whip-crack. "Renji."

Renji looked at him, breathing a little hard and blushing to the roots of his hair. Byakuya's face was almost expressionless, but his tone was almost gentle. "It is quite lovely. Thank you for the gift."

Renji let out a breath in a rush. "Well...good. Um, I'm glad you like it," he stammered, backing towards the door. "So uh, if you want I could give you some other souvenirs. If, you know, I see others you might like."

Byakuya _smiled_. It was the tiniest of quirks to his mouth, but it was _there_ , and it made Renji's heart leap in his chest. "I am unworthy of such," he said. "But if you wish to bring me something else, I would not refuse it."

Renji beamed - he couldn't help it, though he knew he looked like an idiot. "Great! Um, I'll just get the rest of the stuff..." and a moment later he escaped from Byakuya's office and shut the door.

Through the rice paper door, he just barely heard Byakuya's confused words. "Rest of the stuff?" and then he was trotting back to his room on wobbly legs. Finally, he could unload all of this fruity crap and make some damn room!

And best of all, Byakuya couldn't very well get mad at him, now.


End file.
